Bent Rim - Replace or Bend Out?

[gregmcdowell]

Hi everyone. I recently bought a 48 spoke velocity chukker on a Phil Wood touring hub. It should be bombproof against anything the road can throw at it. Last week I noticed a rhythmic thumping as I rode and found that the braking surface of the rim has been bent sharply in over a 1" wide area. I'm guessing it happened on the bike rack inside the building at work. It just has 3" wooden pegs sticking out from the wall and the floor to hold the wheel. I'm guessing someone accidentally bumped into it and tipped it over and there was enough leverage for the floor pegs to do the damage. It looks like it would be a simple matter to bend the rim back into shape with a pair of vice grips. Would this be safe to do? Or is my only option to have the rim replaced and get the wheel rebuilt? Thanks everyone.

 

[Motobecane]

it sounds like the rim isn't out of true just that you have the thump because of that dent. I don't think attempting to bend aluminumback the other direction would be a very good idea but I also don't think you have any issues riding it like that other than the annoying braking issue which if severe enough can prevent proper braking. I'd relace to a new rim but save that rim and perhaps consider reusing it at some point with a disc brake hub.